In absorption cooling units the system uses water as a refrigerant and lithium bromide which has a high infinity for water as an absorbent. To operate efficiently, it is important that the lithium bromide solution does not become contaminated with unwanted contaminants which would aversely effect the efficiency of the system. One common problem associated with absorption systems of this type is that air tends to leak into the vacuum of the system and combines with copper components within the system such as tubing to form copper oxides. This results in the formation of ionic copper being placed into the lithium bromide solution and plating out onto metal components of the system which adversely detracts from the efficiency of the system. Copper plating and buildup is commonly found on external pumps, bearings, plugging filters, and under certain high temperature operating conditions results in the solution chemistry of the lithium bromide solution being adversely affected. This can lead a system shutdown resulting in lost time of operation, the replacement of lithium bromide solution, and in some cases replacing components parts which have been plated. Copper contents greater than about 50 parts per million are considered a problem, and in situations of this type, concentrations of copper in the range of 200 to 1000 parts per million are not uncommon.
The problem of unwanted copper being present the lithium bromide solution has been a long standing problem in the field and to date has not been solved in any satisfactory matter.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an efficient copper removal system for absorption cooling units.
It is the further object of the present invention to provide an efficient on line copper removal system for absorption units.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an on line copper removal system for absorption units which use lithium bromide as a solution, and which allows the system to effectively operate while the copper is being removed.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an efficient on line copper removal system for units using lithium bromide as a solution which can be installed simply by retrofitting an existing absorption system while it is still running.